


Can You Come Get Me

by Steampoweredwitch



Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Brendol Hux's A+ Parenting, Crushes, M/M, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Valentine's Day
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-14
Updated: 2018-02-14
Packaged: 2019-03-18 03:12:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,065
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13673064
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Steampoweredwitch/pseuds/Steampoweredwitch
Summary: After a vicious fight with his father, Hux needs a place to go. Ren is more than obliging. Not your conventional Valentine's Day, but far better than he had hoped for.





	Can You Come Get Me

**Author's Note:**

  * For [darktensh17](https://archiveofourown.org/users/darktensh17/gifts).



> See end for content warnings

He didn't want to call Ren for help. If he hadn't had to call anyone at all, he wouldn't have, but emergencies happened sometimes. In truth, he had been scrolling for Phasma's name, but the snow on his screen had caused a glitch and scrolled him too far. Of course, Hux hung up as soon as he realized what he had done.

Ren was now calling back.

Of course he was.

Hux hesitated until the vibrations cut off to go to voicemail, and answered. "Ren."

"Hey - you pocket dial me or something?"

He could have lied, easily. It was as easy an out as you could ask for, but frankly, it was cold, and only getting worse. Hux sighed in defeat to himself. Ren would have a charging block, at least, and from there, he could always call Phas if this turned out to be a horrid mistake. "No, I just had second thoughts. I'm sure you're busy."

"Not as much as you'd think," he could hear dishes clanking in the background, but none of the chatter that came with eating out or having company. Hux sat at a bus stop, taking shelter from the snow for a few minutes. "What's up, Huxy? You doing okay?"

"... Would it be horrible of me to ask you for a ride? There was - a bit of an incident, and I need to get out of here," Once it started coming out, his composure slipped. He pressed a hand to his aching ribs, shivering.

The change on the other side of the line was immediate. Gone was the easy teasing replaced with the sounds of movement - keys jangling, "Where are you?"

He scrunched his eyes up in equal parts shame and relief, and told Ren between deep breaths how to find the nearest twenty four hour fast food place. Better to meet there and walk a few more blocks than wait at some corner the buses aren't coming to at this hour. After the call, he stuffed his phone up his sleeve to keep his fingers warm and huddled further into his thin jacket for the trek.

 

When Ren's car pulled up, Hux was texting Phasma with his remaining battery life. He'd expected it to die before Kylo arrived, and he wasn't terribly eager to plunge back into the snow, but seeing any friendly face right about then was a balm he couldn't do without. Hux shuffled out to the parking lot, and was immediately wrapped up by Ren's jacket, warm from use. He avoided meeting his eyes. The last thing he needed were those liquid brown eyes trying to pry him open... But the hug was nice.

"I'm sorry for dragging you out here," he grumbled.

Kylo brushed his concerns off with a nondescript sound, and then nudged him towards the passenger's seat. "Come on. Let's get you home."

He didn't pry into what happened on the drive. Hux worried it was obvious, some irrational part of his brain convinced that it was just laid out in front of him like a diagram of Secret Trauma™. Instead of talking about it, he warmed his hands on the heater, asked Ren at least twice if he was warm enough in that short-sleeve with no coat, and turned the radio on to the least inoffensive station in the city. Ren acted as if nothing was amiss at all, drove him straight back to his place.

Ren's apartment was older than the Hux family home, but it had good heating, a well-stocked fridge (with shit beer), and it was far cozier and more personal than any room under Brendol's roof. As much as it wasn't usually to his taste, he had enough positive memories here from game nights and tv events their mutual friends sometimes gathered for to feel at ease here - especially after earlier. He stayed tucked in Kylo's coat for a long time, sitting at the kitchen table. There were dishes in the sinks, and more set out to dry. Ren had dropped what he was doing to come get him. Hux looked down at his hands, frustrated that he had more favours to ask for before the night was done.

"Tea, right?"

His head shot up. Ren was still just in the t-shirt, skin pink in some places from the bitter chill outside. His hair was swept up now, pulled into some semblance of order atop his head. Tea... Right. Kylo preferred coffee most of the time, but he kept a stash of hot chocolate and tea on hand for parties during cold weather like this. Hux had never really questioned where it all came from before. His pantry just seemed bottomless. "Yes, thank you. I didn't interrupt something, did I?"

"Oh no, you're cool. Was just chilling with a movie," he flipped the kettle on - and then remembered to fill it before boiling an empty pot and rushed it to the sink. Hux snorted, still subdued, but grateful to be thinking of literally anything else. "Okay... Brewing tea, take two!"

 

He had to ask for a change of clothes before the kettle boiled, just to get out of his wet socks and jeans. Ren loaned him soft pants that just barely stayed on his waist, and a cozy sweater, and they hung the wet things over the radiator. Hux was mostly grateful that the kettle screeching had given him a chance to change unnoticed in the bathroom, avoiding looking at the bruises littering his skin.

With his phone plugged in to a series of precarious-looking extension cords,and Phasma's worries put to rest, he curled up gingerly on the couch. Ren still didn't ask about what had happened. He just sat near him on the couch with their tea, and passed him the controller. It turned into an unexpectedly pleasant evening. When he wasn't angry, Ren was remarkably good company. Kylo talked all through the movie Hux chose, making comments about the actors, movie trivia, inaccuracies in the science - all kinds of inane things he wouldn't normally take interest in. After the day Hux had been through, it was enjoyable listening to him ramble. It made him wonder how he just so happened to be free on Valentine's.

 

Hux woke on the couch, covered in too many blankets to count. It was still dark. Ren was tucked under his ankles, playing some game on his phone with the brightness turned down. He burrowed back into the pillow he had somehow acquired and slipped back out of consciousness again.

 

Everything hurt when he next came to. The couch was comfortable enough, but an innocuous lump under his hip was digging into a sore spot just offensively enough to make him feel like death on top of the stiffness through the rest of his body. Hux groaned and forced himself up, taking stock of his surroundings. Ren was splayed out on the loveseat nearby, sunlight spilling through the windows. The charger he had leant Hux was bent at a funny angle from him rolling over in the night, and his stomach was beginning to grumble.

He ignored the anxious itch in the back of his mind telling him to check his messages for angry letters, and decided to raid the kitchen. Kylo was known for his love of cooking. He was bound to have enough ingredients for a decent meal, and if not, Hux could always order something and regret spending the money later. Before he finished digging up ingredients, a groan drifted out of the living room. He couldn't figure out the coffee maker, or he would have made some already.

Today would be long, trying to find out where to go from here. Couch surfing was neither appealing nor dignified, but frankly, he wouldn't have access to the funds for his own place for some time. The anxiety of it was building unreasonably quickly by the time a hand found his back, and suddenly Ren was there, reaching around him for the mugs in the cupboard. "Morning, Hux." He nearly dropped his handful of measuring spoons, goosebumps running his spine.

Kylo almost seemed to fall asleep again at his back, lingering drowsily. Hux - might have let him, if not for fingers brushing over a tender spot stabbing tiny needles of pain through him. The contact stopped immediately. Kylo stepped around him to the coffee machine, and set to work in a silence that was far less friendly than the one before. Hux felt himself deflate involuntarily. Ren didn't know about the injuries, so far as he knew, and he'd normally keep it that way, but the nagging notion that he'd hurt his feelings by flinching wouldn't leave him alone and he could fix that easily enough. After the catastrophic failure that was his father, he needed something fixable.

"Do you have any painkillers?" Asking was comparable to chewing concrete, but the result was oh so worth it. Kylo perked up like an attentive nurse, and immediately launched into a questionnaire about what kind Hux needed, what brand, if he had allergies. He also insisted on shooing Hux back to the couch with a tall glass of water, and two pills Hux neglected to listen to the name of, too busy being astounded by how bright those eyes could get.

 

He couldn't say whose fault the kiss was. Between the heart-shaped pancakes, and Ren finding his bruises, and the long conversation about him needing a new place to live, and why, and the damn phonecall that tried to interrupt it all, he just - ended up with his legs curled over Kylo's again. Just ended up sighing as he sank back into the couch, with Ren's arm over his waist, and this tangible tension between them. He remembered thinking it was a bad idea. He wouldn't have called Kylo on a regular night, or stayed the night, but Kylo lifted his head from where it had wound up on his shoulder and met his gaze, and the flutter that filled his chest seemed to genuine to be a bad decision.

When Kylo ended that first kiss, all soft brushes and uncertainty, Hux could feel the blush radiating off of him, "Sorry... This has gotta seem creepy, and I don't mean to be. You're just..."

The second kiss was all his own doing. Yes, it was impulsive, but he had to do something about that longing in Ren's eyes, and it felt so damn good to wrap himself up in him. Kylo certainly didn't seem to mind. He made the loveliest sound when Hux slid gently into his mouth. If that wasn't worth this whole mess, what was?

The pancakes were cold when he finally ate. Melted whipped cream still managed to get smeared on his nose, thank to Ren. The dishes got done with Kylo lazing against his back again, and before they knew it, they were scrolling for takeout places for dinner like this did this every night. Every time Kylo looked his way, his gaze came with this stunned, radiant smile, like it was all too good to be true.

Hux didn't really have words for where this would go, and Valentine's was technically over many hours ago, as morning crept into afternoon, but staying here for a few days and forgetting the bitter cold outside was certainly a better plan than what he's been intending to do before he'd called. They'd have to deal with just how deep Kylo's feelings seemed to run compared to his own, but if he could fall a fraction as hard as Ren, they'd make it work. Truth be told, Hux could see it. He wanted to. They found him a place to move into that night, still curled up on his chest, and Hux found himself musing that after the lease was up, maybe he would be ready to try living here. If Kylo stuck around that long, and could understand the days where he wanted nothing to do with the world, and they could find a way to decide between adopting a dog or a cat (the only point of tension of the day), then everything would turn out.

Kylo drove him home the next day, squeezing his hand the whole way. Hux grinned a little too viciously as Ren suggested coming in with him and 'encourage' Brendol to behave. That didn't sound like a bad idea at all.

**Author's Note:**

> Content warnings: Mentions of recent parental abuse, injured Hux, eviction, but nothing that doesn't get fixed
> 
> Thanks to the Kylux exchange for giving me this pinch hit! Ngl, it was cathartic as fuck.


End file.
